2017-08-09-2237Z


my lady taught me something about siphoning that I never knew, or if I'd known I'd long since forgotten. the scenario: a leaking hot tub that had about 100 gallons of water in it, which I needed to empty. I was going to make 100+ trips with a one-gallon water jug. instead I did this, at her direction:

run a hose to the bottom of the hot tub. hold it down with something if necessary, but not so as to kink it. remove the nozzle if any.

turn on the water at the other end of the hose. make sure water is coming out inside the container (hot tub in this case). yes, you're adding more water in this step, but just a little, and it saves a lot of effort.

simultaneously turn off the water and kink the hose at the bibb end. carry the kinked end to a level below that of the bottom of the container being emptied, which in my case was downhill a few feet. the point is to make sure there's more water weight in the part of the hose below the bottom of the container than there is above, so at least half the hose must be below.

release the kink. the weight of the water will pull suction on the line and empty the container.

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last updated 2017-10-19 20:16:59. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com